How Pluto Stopped Being a Plant

How many planets do astronomers now think our solar system has?

• 5

• 10

• 2

• 8

What is Pluto called now?

• A dwarf planet

• A golf ball

• Venus

• A planet

What event led astronomers to re-count the planets?

• Astronomers realized how small Pluto was.

• Pluto was pulling things into its orbit.

• In 2006, astronomers came up with a new definition of planet.

• In 2006, Pluto had cleared its neighborhood.

"But Pluto's size isn't why most astronomers now call it a dwarf planet. So why the change to Pluto's status?

What does the word status mean in the sentence above?

• story

• degree of importance

• unimportance

• sizing

Part A: What is the central idea of the science article by Tyrone Nielson?

• A group of astronomers decided that Pluto is a dwarf planet.

• Pluto is large enough to be a moon but too small to be a planet.

• Many astronomers are pleased that Pluto is not a planet anymore.

• Some astronomers still believe Pluto should be called a planet.

Central Idea: A group of astronomers decided that Pluto is a dwarf planet.

Which statement from the text best supports the central idea?

• "For decades, people believed our solar system had nine planets..."

• "And it's true that Pluto is small compared with the planets."

• "In August 2006, astronomers came up with a new definition of planet."

• "It has to be massive enough for its own gravity to pull it into the shape of a ball."

Which of these is most clearly a key detail of the passage?

• "And it's true that Pluto is small compared with the planets."

• "If Earth were the size of a basketball, Pluto would be the size of a golf ball."

• "It hasn't cleared its neighborhood the way the planets have."

• "Not all astronomers accept the change to Pluto's status."

How does the author support his claim that Pluto was not "kicked out of the planet club solely because of its size"?

• He uses statistics to support his claim that Pluto was not kicked out because of size.

• He describes his research findings about the size of Pluto.

• He gives information about the three conditions and explains that Pluto does not meet one the conditions.

• He gives information about the other planets sizes and compares it to Pluto.

True or False

All astronomers accept the change to Pluto's status.

• True

• False